Presidential race energizes this year's solar-industry convention

The solar-energy industry's huge assembly this week in Orlando buzzed with alternating currents of anxiety and optimism over this year's presidential election.

A common thought at Solar Power International, which bills itself as North America's largest conference and exposition for the solar-energy business, was that the future will stay reasonably bright if President Obama wins a second term, but that it might be lights out if Mitt Romney prevails in November.

"Both campaigns have been pretty vague on their energy plans, but certainly in the past four years we have seen strong leadership from the Obama administration to try to diversify our energy portfolio," said Rhone Resch, president and chief executive officer of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a co-host of the four-day event.

Resch said the industry's labor force has grown in recent years from 20,000 workers to more than 100,000 and has been a major bright spot in the economies of certain states, such as New Jersey.

On the trade-show floor, the row upon row of black solar panels, aluminum mounting racks, power-management electronics, batteries and pile drivers (used to stab steel posts into the ground for solar-energy power plants) made it clear the industry is technical and labor intensive.

"We can't give all the credit to the Obama administration, but certainly they have encouraged growth of this industry, and the industry has responded during some of the most difficult economic times this country has faced," Resch said.

On the other hand, "What we've heard so far from the Romney campaign is that they are interested in cutting support for clean energy," he said.

The Solar Energy Industries Association is lobbying for state and federal lawmakers to lessen the government-sanctioned grip that utilities have on the business of generating and distributing electricity in the U.S.

Very much in discussion this week was a future for solar in which new homes are routinely equipped with rooftop panels and battery banks, so they can share with local utilities the job of producing and storing power.

Chinaland Solar Energy Co. Ltd. of Hefei, China, had on display solar panels that, rather than designed for mounting on a roof in conventional fashion, serve instead as very big shingles. "That is the roof," sales manager Scott Iei said. "Very economical, very popular in Europe."

Even as the Solar Energy Industries Association lobbies for greater access to the business of producing power, it also touts how utilities' near-monopoly is already being pried apart by large companies with household names, including Wal-Mart Stores, Costco and IKEA.

A report released this week by the association and Vote Solar Initiative, a nonprofit group that promotes solar energy and climate-change solutions, placed Wal-Mart atop the ranks of businesses taking solar into their own hands. The world's largest retailer has solar arrays on its company stores capable of producing a combined 65 megawatts of electricity, or more than 10 times the energy output of a new Orlando Utilities Commission solar plant in east Orange County.

On presidential politics and the future of solar, Bill Clinton might have shed some light on the subject during his keynote speech Wednesday at the conference, but without explanation, all but a few specialized trade writers were barred from listening to the former president's remarks.

The standard knock on solar energy is that the panels, steel, aluminum, copper and concrete needed for rooftop or ground-mounted installations still make it more expensive, watt for watt, than energy generated with coal or natural gas.

Julia Hamm, president and chief executive officer of the Solar Electric Power Association, which represents utilities' solar interests and was the Orlando event's other co-host, said most power-company executives think it's inevitable that the nation will impose some sort of tax on natural gas and coal because of the heat-trapping pollution they emit when burned by power plants.

She said that would make solar equipment more competitive as a base source of energy and would further encourage utility executives to diversify their power-generation mix.

Regardless of who wins this year's presidential election, Hamm said, the future of solar isn't going to be rocked by the outcome.

"I'm sure it will have some impact, but I don't think either way it's going to be drastic," she said. "Solar has been supported by both parties throughout the years, and the general public is very supportive of solar."